Do you clip your own dog? Help please

[wadadlis]

Hi we have a cocker spaniel and try to clip her at home to save money.

Problem is that our clippers never seem to last very long ie they seem to go blunt. We do wash her before each clip and we have sent away the blades to be sharpened once but we could never get them to line up properly again when we tried to re-assemble the clippers.

So now we are faced with having to buy new clippers after 3 or 4 clips. Is this normal?

I figure it's still cheaper than taking her to the groomers but wonder if there is anything more we can do to make the clippers last longer.

We have Wahl ones, I thought they were supposed to be pretty good?

Any help welcome

Anyone?

At the moment she is covered in bald patches and looks a bit silly....

Have a look at the cockers online grooming section - lots of v. helpful advice about cocker grooming, including a clipping guide on what blades to use where. I think they generally recommend Andi's clippers on that site too. My cocker is handstripped so I can't offer much help with clipping

As a retired groomer I can tell you that cockers have one of the thickest coats to clip, especially if spayed. Forget any clippers for sale in Argos or similar. The only set you will get away with as suggested are Andis, they will come with a #10 blade and you will need to buy another one usually a #7 (full not skiptooth) for the back and legs. The #10 will be fine on ears if you keep them short and it will be the blade need to go through heavy matting and thick feet hair. The clipper will cost about £125 and the extra blade around £28 depending on make. These clippers will last you the dogs life time and you will never need to buy another set again.

www.christiesdirect.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=1036 clippers

www.christiesdirect.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=718 blade

Shear Ease are a company I can recommend for sharpening blades, but if you keep them well oiled, clean and dry you will only need to have them sharpened maybe once a year, at around £6 a time. As you are clipping her yourself I suggest doing it every 8-10 weeks before the coat gets too heavy, only because it will be less work for you, the clippers will cope fine. You will need a good quality cleansing shampoo, cockers have a very oily coat and will dull blades if not clean enough. Bath her, shampooing twice and rinsing well the day before, allow the coat to completely dry before clipping the next day. Sand, mud and oil will dull blades so she must be CLEAN.

Cockers are not difficult to clip, especially if kept in a short 'go faster' clip, with Andis clippers you will save yourself a lot of money, you will recoup the cost within one year. Look after your clippers and they'll outlive your dog and if you give up they have a great resale value on ebay.

I hope this helps, and have fun :)

wow, thanks for all the tips, that's really helpful.

i wouldn't mind clipping her more often (we do it about every 8 weeks) but she really doesn't like it, despite being taken to groomers when she was a pup to get used to it etc.

She particularly hates having her feet done...and they are the trickiest bit!

Is the number 10 blade the shorter one? I think that's what the groomer uses on her, it keeps her short all over? She looks a bit like a pointer when finished but we quite like her like that (sorry to all you people who have proper looking cockers).

Can I ask where you groom her? You need to use a bench waist level with you, a hook on the wall, lead on dog and secure to wall. A non slip mat, rubber car mat is ideal and plenty of light. Pop her up at every opportunity with nice treat and work at her feet with your clippers. When she behaves treat her, keep sessions short and never let the blades over heat. Treat good behavior ignore bad. Hopefully you will overcome her feet issue, though some dogs will always have feet worries but good secure hold against a wall means she won't struggle as much. It's worth making an effort to have a specific place to groom her and avoid working on the ground, you need to have her up level with you.

A number 10 is a short blade and it can be used all over, if you do this consider buying an extra one as a close blade will overheat and clog easier, you can alternate blades to keep them cool (a piece of marble or old ceramic tile will draw heat from blade), keep blades oiled. Use a 10 on feet against growth of hair, make sure feet are clean and dry before clipping. If you use a #7 blade you can clip against the hair direction, like clipping a horse, it will give a finish similar to a #10.

Good luck, I have to be honest and say for all the customers over the years that decide to do their own grooms the majority of them give up! Too hairy, too messy, too much trouble, even with good clippers. Dogs don't often behave as well with their owners as they do for us, and we usually have somebody else to help. Even I send my dogs to my daughter (groomer) to groom now LOL.. have fun :)

One furminator and pair of six pound hairdressing scissors. Furminate body, chop off all feathers and ear overspill, trim hairy feet and tail. Once more over for any missed bits and hey presto ten minutes and a neat little dog.

Trying to do the clippers was traumatic for us all. Oh and do it wet ti minimise hair though again much cleaner than clippers.

More great tips, thanks.

Unfortunately DH just been made redundant so dog groomer fees on the list of cutbacks, hence the return to home hair cuts! Not sure we can really afford the out lay for table etc either.

I think you are right about the dog behaving better for the groomer, our groomer also struggles with the feet but all her table/hook/lead paraphernalia no doubt help her to keep the dog feeling secure and being more sensible. I usually trim her in the garden, it's often a 2 person job with DH. Mainly my back ends up killing me as he holds the dog whilst I get into all sorts of contortions to try to get to different parts of the dog. It's not ideal I know, if I have her up on the garden bench it's less uncomfortable, for me anyway.

One more question, multipoodles, if you get the blades re-sharpened how do you re-attach them so that they work??!!

Wadadlis the blades on the Andis clipper are 2 part but screwed together, you shouldn't ever need to adjust them and when they come back from being sharpened they will have been reset and ready to clip on and go. What model are the clippers you have? Have you looked online for a manual which shows are they should be reset? Have a look here for your clippers and check if you are putting them back together properly

www.peasridge.co.uk/clipper-advice/clippers-products-wahl-pet-trimmer.shtml

or

www.peasridge.co.uk/clipper-advice/clippers-products-wahl-multi-cut-clipper.shtml

Trying to save you some money here and hope you can get these ones working again :)

The best quality clippers you get the best value you get. I clip my Bedlington and started with cheapo clippers, not a good idea. I reckon that what you would spend on 3 professional sessions will pay for some decent clippers.I have Andis and 15, 10, 7 and 4 blades (close to longer cut). I also use scissors and a very small trimmer for things like feet, (I swear he has hobbit blood), round his bum, etc. I clip outside and either leave the clippings out for birds to use for their nests or put it in the compost bin but you do need a dry day. I use the patio table and a rubber bath mat. Both dog and I lose patience after about an hour so he has a pretty basic clip and I scissor as much as I can. It is a lot easier if the dog is bathed, dry and thoroughly brushed before starting to clip.
Peasridge are good suppliers and will service efficiently.

Thanks to everyone for the tips.

Dog groomer coming to salvage the situation tomorrow. Dog has decided to roll in mud (again) on her walk today so she needs a good wash now too!

Will do research into the clippers and buy some up-market ones as suggested, and make sure I know how to re-assemble them when the blades have been sharpened.

You have all been really helpful, thank you so much.

I used to do the mile LAb cross collie which was fun, she only needed doing in the summer as she used to run round like a loon and get too hot. I cheated though and used horse clippers which are serious heavy duty stuff and designed to run all day. Argos jobbies that I had for the fiddly bits on the horse would get about half an inch into her coat before jamming. Horse clippers used to go through her coat like butter.